Jetman flies formation with Spitfire

Swiss pilot Yves Rossy took formation flying to a new dimension when he coasted alongside a World War II Supermarine Spitfire in Switzerland.

Unlike the rest of us pilots who would do this in another plane, Rossy was held in the air by nothing other than his “flying wing”, a jet-propelled device he perfected after years of trial and error.

His first official flight with the jet wing was over the Swiss Alps in 2008. The former Swiss air force pilot and later commercial aviator, did his latest close formation flight on September 7, 2012, with a 1943 Mark IXB Spitfire, MH434, flown by Nigel Lamb, a fellow Breitling Flyer pilot, over the Bex aerodrome, near Geneva.

The Spitfire is operated by the Old Flying Machine Company based in Duxford, Britain.

Rossy said after the flight: “To take this occasion to fly in formation with this wonderful machine is an incredible experience. We were very fortunate to have the assistance of the TBM Avenger piloted by Laurent Calame, to act as a camera-ship and I would really like to thank everyone involved, at Bex, Old Flying Machine Company and Breitling to help make this happen.

“Since my technology is getting more and more reliable I am very confident about these types of flights. I can relax and enjoy such a fantastic experience. Under my wing I am free, I have the perfect view!”

Breitling pictures were taken by Christian Mauron and Marie-Dominique Schenk and are copyrighted.